Graduates from the University of South Carolina Upstate’s Mary Black School of Nursing have a year-to-date 92.27 percent first-time pass rate on the NCLEX, the national professional licensure exam for nurses. The national pass rate for the exam is 89.54 percent.

Of the 181 USC Upstate nursing students who have taken the NCLEX since January, 167 students passed the exam. The test measures if a nursing graduate is capable of performing duties required of an entry-level nurse.

The largest program in the state, The Mary Black School of Nursing has a long history of excellence in producing professional baccalaureate nurses in the Upstate, offering a bachelor’s degree program that includes pre-licensure and the RN-BSN tracks, as well as a master’s degree in nursing as a certified clinical nurse leader. The NCLEX success rate is related to a variety of factors, according to the School of Nursing’s dean, Dr. Katharine Gibb, including the quality of student, faculty, clinical partnerships and state-of-the-art facilities.

“We have very stringent, competitive admission standards, and, dedicated faculty who work tirelessly to support and encourage our students to strive for success,” Gibb said. “Our state-of-the-art simulation center provides students with hands-on opportunities with multiple high-fidelity manikins for real-life simulated experiences. They can learn and master procedures and techniques in a safe environment, prior to their experiences in a clinical setting in any of our area hospitals and clinics.”

Gibb said the School of Nursing has worked diligently to create multiple partnerships and collaborations with clinical partners to include Mary Black Hospital, Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, Greenville Health System, Bon Secours St. Francis Health System and AnMed Health Systems, in addition to interdisciplinary partnerships with VCOM – The Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine and Presbyterian College of Pharmacy.

A newly-formed dual degree program with North Greenville University allows students to earn a bachelor’s degree in biology from North Greenville University and a bachelor’s of science in nursing from USC Upstate over the course of a five-year period.

The Mary Black School of Nursing was recently recognized by Colleges of Distinction as a “Nursing College of Distinction.”

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